Cerulean Gaze
by Angelic Oblivion
Summary: [Nikki&Serge]It has been two years since Serge’s adventures in the two different worlds have ended. Something is missing in his life. Is it the excitement of traveling to another world? Or will he just settle for a song? [COMPLETE]
1. Chapter 1

**Cerulean Gaze**

**Warning: **Yaoi content. Save your souls. Press the back button now.

**Disclaimer: **Chrono Cross characters are not mine. Don't crucify me for the lack of the details from the game.

**Summary: **It has been two years since Serge's adventures in the two different worlds have ended. Something is missing in his life. Is it the excitement of traveling to another world? Or will he just settle for a song?

A young lad of 19 came to sit upon the white sandy beach where angels are said to lose their way. The sun illuminated the sky that in turn made the cerulean sea seem more bluish green that day. The young idle man who basked in the warmth of the day had dark ocean blue hair that partially covered his tanned masculine face and deep blue eyes. Serge had been staring off the horizon where the gentle waves of the ocean came to meet his bare feet that lay lazily before him. Our youthful hero had matured since his last adventure that seemed like a lifetime ago. The warm and salty sea breeze caressed the man's more built features. Serge's arms and legs were stronger and more muscled, and his eyes and senses were shaper but something seems to be amiss in his cerulean gaze. Could it be the excitement that he once experienced when the two worlds were in chaos made his dark blue eyes lose their luster? Or could it be the way he sees the sea now, empty and forever silent to the desires of his heart. It has been years since he last used the Astral Amulet to cross worlds. Two years ago he decided that the he, Serge from the home world, should permanently cease to exist in the other world. He wanted to make things right, to make set things in its' natural course. This greatly saddened his comrades from the other world but they all agreed to support the blue-haired boy. Serge's eyes used to be filled with life and wonder of the sea but recently his eyes reveal only a lifeless reflection of it.

The boy sat up and dusted the sand off his blue knee-length shorts then tied his red bandana around his head. Seeing sand on his vest and shirt, he nonchalantly brushed it off with a lazy hand.

"You've been acting strange lately. Is something wrong? Oh, did you get the scales I asked for?", a voice of a young woman came from behind him.

Leena, Serge's childhood friend, had grown into a beautiful lady but she still bosses Serge around the same way since they were still little kids. The red-head had been with Serge for the longest time and she has been waiting for the last two years for the man to propose to her but to her disappointment, the blue-eyed man had done and said nothing about the matter.

Facing the curious and ever cheerful woman, Serge took out the items from his pocket, showed Leena the scales of different colors then handed them to her.

"They're pretty Serge. Thank you very much. I'll cook for you tonight for doing such a great job at collecting these scales for me."

Serge simply nodded. Leena took hold of the man's arm as they made their way back to Arni Village.

The rest of the day had been uneventful. Serge lived mainly on daily routines of doing chores for Leena and his mother. When time permits it, he would stare out to sea the way he did that day. People don't notice but Serge was slowly wasting away for a reason even he himself can't comprehend. Serge knew he was missing something but he didn't know what.

That night, the man with the sea in his eyes was restless in his sleep. It seemed that he was conscious at some point and asleep at another. Serge couldn't tell if he was dreaming in his sleep or if he was awake but thinking he was dreaming. Something at the back of his mind really kept him from having a peaceful rest. In his mind he could see images of his past, Lavos and Schala, Kid and all his comrades from before. In the midst of this chaotic display of memories, a familiar melody played in the background.

_The Song of Marbule_

The man bolted up from his bed, beads of sweat dripping down his forehead.

It was faint but Serge was sure that he was hearing the song of Marbule. He feared the song would end at any second so in his haste, Serge only managed to put on his shorts. Without a moment to lose, he ran towards the direction of the music. The sound lead him to the place where he was earlier that day.

Opassa beach still looked wonderful even at night. The stars from the sky reflected off the water of the sea. When Serge reached the shore, the song stopped playing. Only the sound of the waves filled the night air. From where he stood, he could barely see anything aside from the stars and its reflection on the water.

Still confused, Serge caught his breath and simply enjoyed the view of the beach that night. Although he rarely saw this magnificent sight at night, the blue-haired man knew he had to head back to Arni soon. His back was bare and the salty night air, though alluring, was cold. As Serge walked along the shore, he noticed an odd shaped figure lying on the sand. It was too big to be a fish or even a turtle and it was too small to be a whale. Taking precautions, he approached the creature. To his surprise, the figure seemed to be a young man. Serge couldn't see his face but he could tell that this man who lay unconscious before him didn't end up there on purpose. The man on the shore was clad only with a wet pair of dark colored pants and this lead Serge to conclude that the man may have been robbed by pirates at sea. Being the kind-hearted person his mother molded him to be, the blue-haired man lifted the stranger over his shoulders and decided to take him back to his house. To Serge's surprise, the unidentified man was lighter than he expected therefore, he had little trouble walking all the way back to Arni with his burden.

Serge didn't have the heart to disturb his mother's rest so he quietly carried the unfortunate man up to his room and laid him down on the bed to rest. He lit a small lamp on the side of the bed. Serge wanted to know if the stranger had any injuries so that he could treat them right away.

With the aid of the light from the lamp, Serge could clearly see that the man was quite young. He was about Serge's age. The stranger has a lean body, seemed to have pale skin and black shoulder length hair that lay a mess on his face.

_He seems so familiar._

Curious, Serge gently brushed the damp messy hair off the sleeping man's face with a shaky hand. Nothing in his whole existence prepared him for what he was about to discover.

"Nikki!" Serge exclaimed out loud.

**Author's Notes: **Yay for me and my third yaoi fic. Ok so it's not quite done yet. LOL. So which Nikki are we talking about here? Well, you'd have to find out in the next chapter coz I'm certainly not telling :P

PS. Don't expect me to update right away. I'm BUSY.


	2. Chapter 2

**Cerulean Gaze**

**Chapter 2: Drowning**

**Warning: **Yaoi content. Save your souls. Press the back button now.

**Disclaimer: **Chrono Cross characters are not mine. Don't crucify me for the lack of the details from the game.

"I'm glad to see you're up. You've been asleep since you were found lying on the beach yesterday."

The confused young man with dark shoulder length hair simply smiled at what the middle-aged woman who greeted him from the bottom of the stairs. Nikki felt like he was having a hangover. His head was pounding and the world, to a certain degree, was still spinning.

Earlier that morning, Nikki was shocked when he woke up and found himself on a stranger's bed and he was even more surprised to find out he was wearing somebody else's clothes. The plain white shirt and the lose drawstring khaki pants he had on were a bit too big for him but he found no traces of his clothes in the small room. From where he lay, he could see that the entire room was made from and decorated with materials found near the sea. The walls were made of sturdy wood from the trunk of palm trees and several layers of palm leaves were used to create the ceiling. Colorful seashells and corals were the only decorations in the room. Nikki had no idea where he was but the calm aura that filled the room and the familiar scent on the clothes he had on somehow made him feel safe. When he finally got himself out of bed, he looked around the simple bedroom that had a view of the sea from its' small makeshift balcony. Outside he could see children playing merrily in the warm seawater. When he shifted his attention back to the room, he noticed the handmade furniture and other items made from native materials. He decided to leave the room to take a look around the house. His curiosity eventually lead him to the bottom of the stairs that connected the bedroom to the rest of the house. This was the place where the woman who just greeted him discovered the young man wandering about.

Realizing that the woman was still standing there waiting for a reply, Nikki said "I apologize for barging into your house like this. May I know where this place is exactly?"

"Serge sure has weird friends from outside the village. You're in Arni Village. I heard you're a popular music idol in Termina. I do hope you enjoy your stay in a quiet place like this." The woman smiled and went on doing her morning routines.

"Serge! Where…where is he?" Nikki almost screamed out of excitement.

"I'm here."

Serge said as he entered the house and walked towards his mother's side.

The middle-aged woman could've sworn that she saw her son's guest leap into Serge's arms the moment Nikki saw him. Awestruck at the scene before her, she excused herself by mumbling something about seaweeds, and hastily left the house.

Nikki wrapped his arms tightly on Serge's neck and sobbed loudly on the other man's chest.

Dumbfounded, Serge instinctively held his sobbing comrade with both arms. The blue-haired boy was embarrassed to admit it but being this close to Nikki made him feel good about a lot of things.

When the dark-haired man finally calmed down, Serge decided to ask "I thought you were going on your honeymoon with Mikki? How did you end up on Opassa beach alone?"

"So the Nikki here married Mikki eh?"

"Are you sure you're alright Nikki?"

"Serge, I'm not the Nikki from this world." Nikki said blankly as he took a step back from the person who held him.

Serge could tell that Nikki was very disappointed at him for not being able to tell the difference between the two Nikkis. In theory, individuals and the respective counterpart from the different dimensions should have similar personalities since they are after all, biologically identical in all aspects. But having the world split in two brought about two different possibilities for both worlds. The general flow of events that the two Nikkis have experienced may have been similar (enjoying life as a rock star as well as being separated from their only family, Marcy and Fargo) but their unique experiences, the experiences that they could only encounter in the world were they exist, made them very different from one another. The Nikki standing before Serge fought against Lavos with the blue-haired man in the past and this is an experience unique to only one Nikki.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think it's possible for people who don't have the Astral Amulet to cross worlds." The man with blue eyes explained.

"I know." Nikki added as he fixed his rumpled clothes.

"By the way, why were you crying just now? Did something bad happen in the other world?"

"It's… I'm just glad to see you again, Serge."

"So tell me more about the other world."

The two men decided to take a walk on the shores of Opassa beach where they conversed the rest of day. Nikki narrated what he has been up to in the past two years. He mentioned trying to bring his family back together but in doing so, voluntarily gave up his career as a rock star.

"That explains the plain black hair and the absence of make-up." Serge teased.

Nikki admitted that it took him quite a while to convince Marcy that he was her older brother but she eventually gave in. Fargo, on the other hand, easily accepted and welcomed his children back into his life. All this time the middle-aged pirate was waiting for an opportune moment to have his family with him again. Serge asked a lot of questions about his old comrades and Nikki tried his best to recall the last thing he heard about them.

"Lady Riddel eventually married Glenn, Grobyc was helping Zappa wield weapons, Van became a popular artist…" the conversation just went on and on.

Both men did not notice the time go by and before they knew it, the sun was already setting. By this time, they were seated on the sandy beach admiring the wonderful view of the reddish-orange sea.

"Tell me more about Kid. What has she been up to?" Serge said solemnly, looking at the distant horizon before him.

Nikki could sense a hint of remorse from Serge and this greatly saddened the ex-rock star.

"She's still having her wild and crazy adventures. I don't think she got into enough trouble the last time you were there in our world." The black-haired man forced a smile to appear as he spoke. He knew Serge would listen very intently on anything and everything that had to do with Kid.

It was getting dark and cold at the beach. It was time for them to head back to the village. The two young men stood up and dusted the sand off their clothing. Serge was about to start walking towards the village when he felt a gentle tug on his arm.

"Is something the matter, Nikki?"

"Can we stay here just a little while longer?"

"If you insist but we'll catch a cold if we stay out here too long."

"Just a few more minutes, Serge."

There was silence between the two radical dreamers as they stood there side by side, staring off at the dimming horizon.

"The tides have come and gone long before our time. It will come and go long after we are gone." Serge said as he looked at his friend who seemed to be deep in thought.

The man with dark hair and bluish-purple eyes took a step closer towards the other man and gazed at his companion's eyes that held the reflection of the deep blue sea. Nikki said "And what better way is there to see the tides come and go if not through your eyes?"

Serge blinked at this. He wasn't quite sure how to react or what to say but he soon realized he need not do nor say anything. Soft warm lips brushed against his. The kiss didn't last long but it was long enough to send shivers down the blue-haired man's spine.

That special moment ended too soon. Serge could feel the warmth on his lips disappear. When he opened his eyes all he could see was a faint translucent Nikki standing before him.

Nikki smiled his most brilliant smile.

"Right after I was reunited with my family, I fell ill for reasons not even the elder of Marbule knows of. The doctors from Guldove and Marbule couldn't help me so I guess you could say that I no longer exist in the other world."

Serge felt himself choke at what his friend who was now fading away just said.

"I'm an angel who lost his way. I'm glad I ended up where you were. This was my dying wish."

At this point, Serge could barely see Nikki. Things were happening too fast and his mind couldn't grasp the matter fast enough. The man with the ocean in his eyes reached out to embrace the vanishing remnants of the person who continued smiling at him.

"Nikki, wait."

Nikki's voice was inaudible now but Serge could make out the words his comrade was trying to tell him before he completely disappeared. In the end all he could hear was the sound of the waves, the sad wind and the song of Marbule that was forever playing in his heart.

The dark blue eyes that held the sea overflowed that moment while the tides continued to come and go.

End


End file.
